The Los Angeles Dodgers took an aggressive approach in free agency for the second consecutive offseason that led to the signings of Blake Snell, Tanner Scott, Michael Conforto, Kirby Yates and Roki Sasaki, among others.
Sasaki joins Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the Dodgers roster as three of the biggest Japanese stars in all of baseball.
Ohtani and Yamamoto helped the team set viewership records in Japan last year, as well as land significant sponsorship deals from notable Japanese companies.
With Sasaki now in the fold, the Dodgers should continue receiving significant attention from the country. “We’ve spent the last few years opening up Europe, and this is really helping us across the Pacific Rim,” president and CEO Stan Kasten recently said.
“Not just the Dodgers, even though we are also starting programs there with MLB’s blessings. But so is MLB, in a way that they didn’t before this recent onslaught. We’re happy to play that part. It’s good for all of us.”
In response to the widespread interest from Japanese baseball fans, the Dodgers launched a fan club that is only available to residents of the country. Membership comes with special perks such as limited edition merchandise and a chance to win tickets to the Tokyo Series.
“We’re working on some experimental ways to add fans and fan clubs. Something that Premier League and European soccer leagues already do, amassing international fans,” Kasten noted.
“We’re doing a pilot program to start that and see how it does. And whatever we learn is for baseball, for all the teams to take advantage of and maybe grow their own going forward.”
Stan Kasten: Dodgers benefiting from longstanding relationship with Japan
The Dodgers’ longstanding relationship with Japan dates back to when the team signed Hideo Nomo in 1995. Other notable Japanese players to join the Dodgers over the years include Yu Darvish, Hiroki Kuroda, Kenta Maeda and Takashi Saito, among others.
“It’s not a secret, since the day we got here, we understood what this franchise was,” Kasten began. “It was about Jackie and Sandy and Fernando and on and on. We made an effort to capitalize on that and really expand on that.
“The Japanese players who played here are just one element in what our background and history was. We try to reach out on all the elements we have. That was just one of many wonderful things that were here before we got here.”
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